Yasmin Qureshi – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yasmin Qureshi on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assurances she has received from operators of commercially available mobile networks that the emergency services will be able to over-ride commercial or public traffic during emergencies.

Damian Green

The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme has worked with the
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) since February 2013, running a series of
supplier workshops and market engagement sessions throughout 2013 and the first
quarter of 2014 ahead of procurement launch. The MNOs have run a series of
capability demonstrations, organised by the Programme, to showcase development
of this technical solution. The Programme has confidence that this capability
is deliverable. The MNOs met the Minister for the Cabinet Office during
February 2014, where they confirmed their ability and willingness to deliver
the technology required to enable the emergency services to operate effectively
over a commercially available mobile network, including provision of
prioritisation of Emergency Service traffic.